


Guardianship

by sakurachan811



Series: The Renegade Files [9]
Category: G.I. Joe: Renegades
Genre: Angst, Child Neglect, Father-Daughter Relationship, Male-Female Friendship, Strained Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:07:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25137406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sakurachan811/pseuds/sakurachan811
Summary: They weren't close like thatHe trained herHe'd been her senseiThen later on he became her ally and close friend.He was her protector for so long, a silent grey guardian.But he still hurt her, he still lied to her.
Series: The Renegade Files [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815079





	Guardianship

**Author's Note:**

> This is set just before and during Interlude.

The other Joes see something that isn't there, it never was. Because even if she had loved him that way, it had certainly died a swift death when she found out that he knew about her father for all these years and had never told her.

When growing up in Atlanta she'd never wanted for anything, except her fathers time. It had been lonely, no mother or siblings. Only a father who loved her dearly but was too busy for her.  
She spent her childhood being raised by nursemaids and nannies.When he'd come home to his only child it was always with a new trinket and an apology on his tongue. That summer when she turned eighteen she went off to college and only came back for his funeral and to settle the estate.

Except he'd never died, in some of her weaker moments. She wishes he did.

Now she tries to deal with being reintegrated into the military, her father gives her these desprate searching looks, trying to find the little girl he hardly raised.

They've cleared their names, her father is going through the lengthy legal process of being a person again.Then her father is working closely with Breaker and military intelligence to destroy Cobra.

Their orders were to get back into fighting shape for the formation of a new specialized anti-Cobra unit. That means rest and recovery, specialized training, specialized gear, and new orders from up top.

So what the hell is Duke doing to himself exactly?

She's seen the retreating line of his back,  
Or catches him turning a corner, they never occupy the same room for more than a minute. this strange dance goes on for weeks. Laying in her bunk at night. she thinks for one hysterical moment that he must have got more training by Snake Eyes.

When they were on the run from Cobra there was a reason for his weight loss, the sleepless nights and the never healing injuries.But there was no such reason for this now and she has a theory as to why, she just prays she's wrong.

She starts by tailing him and asking careful probing questions to the people know him around the base. She learns the following:  
He'd be in his bunk at the earliest allowed time, he gets exactly six hours of sleep, even though he still needs eight as per doctor's orders for optimal healing.  
That It wasn't unusual for Duke to wake up crying, or for him cry out in his sleep at least once a week.  
He takes his supplements as prescribed to him, He eats his meals if only just. Never gets himself more than one serving of anything, he eats every meal in silence, movements completely mechanical.  
He goes to all his medical evaluations, and he doesn't speak to any of them.He’s been avoiding them and she just can't understand why.

She fights to swallow down her anger when it became clear that he's avoiding her in particular.

The first time she sees him enter the gym on rec time he's been ordered to rest dammit!  
But fine, it's been stressful on all of them.

She makes a call to one Allison Hart-Burnett, asks her to see if he's made or received any calls.  
Yes actually, two outgoing from St. Louis, Missouri unanswered, theres Nothing else, and "Is something wrong with Duke?" "No, thanks Lady Jaye" She hears herself say from faraway. She hangs up, 

She gets angrier 

Her fury hits breaking point when she sees him enter the gym for the third time that week.  
She's been watching him destroy himself for over a half hour now. She can tell they put him on a lot of supplements.over the past two months his color had been getting better, he seemed to be healing nicely, he was gaining weight far much too slowly, but still.  
But when she sees him bleeding in the gym, blue eyes a million miles away? She's had enough, this stops now.


End file.
